Mayan temple architecture utilized it's position within larger planned metropolitan spaces, temporal/light effects inspired by religion and cosmology, and awe-inspiring megalithic construction to emphasize the importance of religion in society.

Urban Planning: Where did temples fit within a Mayan metropolis?Mayan cities were some of the largest of the ancient age, often serving populations of up to 20,000 people. They also represent some of the first examples of “urban planning,” in that towns were organized and coordinated into certain arrangements based on the functions of different buildings. Cities often contained elaborate central complexes surrounding a plaza or a ditch. These spaces included buildings serving the most important functions in Mayan society, namely government palaces and religious temples. Mayan towns were rather standardized and different localities often had a common inventory of public buildings, like ball courts, palace compounds, and temples. The use of a central rectangular common area as a main component of urban design transcends even Mayan architecture alone and can be seen as a common concept in mesoamerican civilizations as a whole. Though it is debated among scholars, many believe that cosmology or astronomy played a role in the planning of urban centers. For example, there are records which suggest that Motecanzoma had part of the Templo Mayor in Tenochtitlan torn down and rebuilt so the sun would rise directly over the Temple of Huitzilopochtli on a certain equinox. In addition, some cities, like Nixtun-Ch’ich’ and Teotihuacan, were laid out on a grid aligned with an East-West or North-South Axis.

Modern Day Connection: Urban planning continues to play a major role in the development of most modern cities. The foremost American example is Washington DC, where major government and cultural institutions are centered around a rectangular “mall.” The National Park service states that the purpose of the national mall is to “provide a monumental, dignified, and symbolic setting for governmental structures, museums and national memorials.” Interestingly, the National Mall houses only secular government buildings while Mayan urban centers deliberately incorporated religious and governmental structures. Thus the actual physical layout of different cities can in some ways indicate the role of religion in society.

Architectural Features: How were religious beliefs expressed physically?The Mayan temples were largely terraced/stepped pyramids not unlike the Pyramid of Djoser in ancient Egypt or the Ziggurats of the Ancient Near East. The temples were built from hand-cut limestone, often insulated with an inner layer of mica, and covered with stucco. All were constructed without domesticated animals or wheeled vehicles. They were usually megalithic, often reaching heights of over 200 feet. Temples often incorporated the Mayans’ exceptional understanding of astronomy and cosmology in their design, and were often built to align with specific celestial events. Planning of this kind seems to add another layer to the discipline of architecture. Often, buildings are studied for their location and their materials, but the architects of Mayan temples made architecture about the temporal as well, designing not only the building itself but also its appearance when faced with specific lighting effects. The best example of this phenomenon is “El Castillo,” a temple at the center of Chichen Itza. El Castillo was built in between the 9th and 12th centuries C.E. and was meant to honor the feathered serpent deity Kukulkan. Sculptures of plumed serpents align with the main staircases, and on the spring and autumn equinoxes the late afternoon sun illuminates these motifs, giving the illusion of a snake moving down the side of the pyramid.

Purpose: What kind of religious role did these structures play?Some pyramids served simply as bases for a temple at the top, and were meant to be climbed in order to hold sacrifices. Others were purely intended to be symbolic and monumental. Like other religious structures, namely mesopotamian ziggurats, the purpose of the pyramids was to bring people closer to the heavens and create a connection between man and god. Temples at the top of pyramids sometimes held tombs for high-ranking officials, but rarely served as a place of worship for everyday Mayans. Unlike many other churches and religious spaces we’ve studied this year, Mayan temples were not meant to be spaces for communal worship. Instead, they served as megalithic reminders of the importance of religion in a theocratic society. Their position in urban centers, physical design, and purpose within society all demonstrate this fact.

This is "The Ziggurat," a ten-story office building in downtown Sacramento. Built in 1998, it is meant to resemble Mesopotamian stepped pyramids. It also bears striking resemblance to Mayan temples, which followed a similar architectural structure. The construction of this building shows that even today, the architectural power and aesthetic appeal of this kind of structure remains persistent. This building dominates the Sacramento skyline, and sends a powerful message about what is important in society. Perhaps that's why the building is currently leased by the California Department of General Services, an important government agency.

Photos:

Here is a photo of "El Castillo" at an equinox, when its serpent statue is illuminated by the sun.

Tikal serves as one example of a Mayan city where palaces and temples were all situated around a central plaza.

This Tomb of Pascal serves as another example of cosmology's role in architecture; It was designed so that when the sun sets over it, the small openings at its tower are briefly illuminated.

This city plan for Teotihuacan, a Mesoamerican city that was roughly aligned with the North and South axis.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

"Cosmology and Religion" Institute of Archaeology, National Institute of Culture and History. http://www.nichbelize.org/ia-archaeology/cosmology-and-religion.html.

Department of AAOA. “Teotihuacan: Pyramids of the Sun and the Moon.” In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/teot2/hd_teot2.htm (October 2001)

Department of AAOA. “Tikal: Sacred Architecture.” In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/maya2/hd_maya2.htm (October 2001)

Smith, Michael E. "Form and Meaning in the Earliest Cities." Journal of Planning History. February 2007.

Awesome information! This brought me back to a senior mentorship presentation I heard the other day during Senior Show Case. In "Tactical Urbanism" Mat L. shared his experience in a planning mentorship opportunity and then focused of how we the society can change our environments in density and functionality and flow. The info you have presented here works in a lot about functionality and the religious aspect of that. The idea of form and function (celestial design!) seem to play along in a similar fashion between the two scenarios even though they seem so different in their overall focus, diverging over religion and people. Its something to think about.

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Josie Ladle

6/8/2016 01:50:14 pm

Yoooo, I found a super relevant article by Sara Joy Proppe that talks about churches and urban planning in cities today! In it, she says, "I believe that churches represent an undervalued and untapped forum for educating a significant audience about the built environment and its relationship to community flourishing." Of course, because Proppe is obviously pro-Christian churches, the article is biased, but I think that deepens the connection between this article and your post - Proppe is showing that people today are still really concerned with building communities around religious architecture, just like the people in ancient America were.

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Lyla Rossi

6/9/2016 09:56:55 pm

This one kinda reminds me of Helena's page in that its the integration of religion and architecture, whereas religion is being displayed physically and with deliberate intent to symbolize and inspire. It's also fascinating that the Ancient Mayans utilized nature and its effects to give its architecture physicality, as you mentioned with the sunset that created a slithering snake. This reveals a real connection between the ancient cultures and their surrounding, which they utilized to augment their way of life and belief practices.

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Alex Norman

6/9/2016 11:13:13 pm

The fact that you came across that office building in Sacramento just before finishing up this project is great. Throughout this whole course, it's been amazing to see how structure and shape can convey similar messages and feelings across generations and cultures. The video we watched today in class on modern art spoke to the elements, forms, and colors that we as humans have been conditioned to respond to in similar ways. I believe the video used the example that over time humans have been conditioned to associate white stone with power, perfection, and purity. It is very interesting to see modern/contemporary artists using both their intuition and art historical knowledge to make conscious decisions about medium, design, and content in order to elicit a specific public response.

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Helena Trevor

6/9/2016 11:14:45 pm

I find it very interesting that these temples were created as monuments rather than places of worship..I wonder why that was. I also think it is interesting that the Mayans were so intact with their surroudings and used things like rocks alone rather than some of the elaborate buildings we see created by other civilizations. I also find the rectangular layout similar to some of the ones we studied of temples in Greece and (Etruscan) Rome. I think these structures are absolutely gorgeous and its a shame we don't know more about the Mayans as a civlization, but great job!

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Erin Paasch

6/9/2016 11:49:48 pm

I love how Evelyn mentioned Matt Ladocsi's mentorship and presentation, because that's exactly what I thought of when first reading this post. He studied urban planning, and with that extremely contemporary and close-to-home example, it just amazes me what a role urban planning plays without any of us really knowing it. Great research and awesome job!!

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Campbell Wharton

6/10/2016 02:55:59 am

I mentioned this in another comment, but it's still so exciting to me to learn more about Aztec and Matan cultures, since they were such great places and cultures. Ziggurats have always been a mystery to me since I've never been able to see one in real life. The connection to the 2000s era building shaped like a ziggurat in Sacramento was honestly pretty hilarious, especially since the first time I read your piece I skipped over the description and missed that it was modern and not ancient like the others. Great images to go along with your content as well.

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Ellie Kim

6/10/2016 09:38:40 am

I absolutely love your post! It is concise, but still super informative and interesting. I really liked how you talked about how urban planning often fits around one central structure/thing, such as the ziggurats, and then your connection to The Mall today was fantastic. That actually reminded me of central park, and how much it stands out among the concrete city of New York.

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